Colognathus

Colognathus is an extinct genus of enigmatic reptile from Late Triassic rocks of the southwestern United States. The genus contains a single species, Colognathus obscurus, described in 1928 by Ermine C. Case based on a jaw fragment. Case interpreted the specimen as belonging to a unique form of fish. Later analyses suggested possible relationships with procolophonid 'parareptiles. Alongside the German Quasicolognathus, it is currently placed in the family Colognathidae, the relationships of which are unclear.

No picture of Colognathus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Colognathus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AmniotaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 9.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 237 Mya to 227.3 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 239.48 Mya to 201.4 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 1 of 10 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 9 of 10 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 10 occurrences240–239 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences239–238 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences238–236 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences236–235 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences235–234 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences234–232 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences232–231 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences231–230 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences230–228 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences228–227 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences227–226 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences226–224 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences224–223 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences223–222 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences222–220 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences220–219 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences219–218 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences218–216 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences216–215 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences215–214 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences214–213 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences213–211 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences211–210 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences210–209 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences209–207 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences207–206 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences206–205 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences205–203 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences203–202 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences202–201 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences237 Mya227.3 Mya240.2 Mya200.6 Mya

10 occurrences of Colognathus on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

10 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

6 formations

Tecovas — 33.43°N, 101.16°WTecovas — 33.42°N, 101.13°WTecovas — 33.58°N, 101.17°WDockum — 33.50°N, 101.13°WChinle — 34.95°N, 109.76°WErfurt — 49.08°N, 9.89°ECumnock — 35.62°N, 79.10°WSanta Rosa — 35.24°N, 105.79°W

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The named rock units Colognathus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Colognathus and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Colognathus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

110 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 10 sites for Colognathus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

8 references

Each of the 10 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content0

No picture of Colognathus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Colognathus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Colognathus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAmniota through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Case 1933